Albemarle Tradewinds July 2016 Web Final Optimized

Medicines And Medical Procedures During The War Between The States
(Continued from last month)
By: Dr. Dave and Gary Riggs
On many tours of these improvised hospitals, a great American poet and Civil War nurse noted in his memoir and
during the war the disorderly death and waste of early uncivil war medicine. At a camp hospital in 1862, it was seen
“a heap of amputated feet, legs, arms, hands, etc. a full load for a one horse cart”. And “several” dead bodies lying near
of the hospital, which was a brick mansion before the battle of Fredericksburg changed its use. “It was quite crowded
upstairs and down, everything impromptu, no system, all bad enough but I have no doubt the best that can be done; all
the wounds pretty bad, some frightful, the men in their old clothes unclean and bloody”. Of the division hospitals, it
was noted that these were “merely tents, and sometimes very poor ones, the wounded lying on the ground, lucky if their
blankets are spread on layers of pine or hemlock twigs or small leaves”.
However, the heavy and constant demands of the sick and wounded sped up the technological progression
of medicine, wrenching American medical practices into the light of modernity. Field and pavilion hospitals replaced
makeshift ones and efficient hospitalization systems encouraged the accumulation of medical records and reports, which
slowed bad practices as accessible knowledge spread the use of beneficial treatments.
Several key figures played a role in the progression of medicine at this time. A medical director brought “order
and efficiency in to the medical service” with a regulated ambulance system and evacuation plans for the wounded, a
standardized, organized and designed new hospital layout and inspection system and literally wrote the book on hygiene
for the army. Clara Barton, well known humanitarian and founder of the America Red Cross, brought professional efficiency
to soldiers in the field, especially at the battle of Sharpsburg (Yankee name Antietam) in September of 1862 when
she delivered much needed medical supplies and administered relief and care for the wounded, disease and illness took
a heavy toll on soldiers, but as these historic characters show, every effort was made to prevent death caused by human
error and ignorance through the development of organized and more advanced practices.
The sheer quantity of those who suffered from disease and severe wounds during Lincoln’s war forced the army
and medical practitioners to develop new therapies, technologies and practices to combat death thanks to the design of
clean, well ventilated and large pavilion style hospitals. Suffering soldiers received care that was efficient and sanitary. In
the later years of the war, these hospitals had a previously unheard of 8% mortality rate for their patients. Through the
mortality rate was higher for soldiers wounded on the battlefield, field dressing stations and field hospitals administered
care in increasingly advanced ways. Once a soldier was wounded medical personnel on the battlefield bandaged the
soldier as fast as they could, and gave him whiskey (to ease the shock) and morphine, if necessary, for pain. If his wounds
demanded more attention, he was evacuated via ambulance and stretcher system to a nearby field hospital.
Part 3 Next Month
Dr. Dave is an Ivy League
Trained Executive Chef and
Early American Historian
Sons of Confederate Veterans We meet at Vickie’s Villa in
Elizabeth City the 4th Tuesday every month at 7pm
36 Albemarle Tradewinds July 2016 albemarletradewinds.com